II Chronicles 30:14 · Bible study
2 Chronicles 30:14 Commentary: Purging Idolatry Before Passover
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why did the people destroy altars before celebrating Passover? This study explores removal of idolatry as preparation for true worship.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The people voluntarily removed all idolatrous altars and cast them into the Kidron Valley as purification before the Passover celebration.
- Key words: Altars (H4196, mizbeach), burnt-offering platforms; incense altars (H6999, məqatterot), places for burning incense; Kidron (H6939), the valley east of Jerusalem used for disposal of defiled objects.
- Main debate: Whether this removal was delayed because Hezekiah prioritized temple restoration (Barnes) or because the people needed to be spiritually ready (Keil).
- Theological theme: Preparation for worship requires the decisive removal of competing loyalties.
- Best use: A call to corporate and personal repentance before high holy days, or a model for how communities can act together to rid themselves of persistent sin.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.
WEB World English Bible 2000
They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the altars for incense and threw them into the brook Kidron.
KJV King James Version 1769
And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And they arise and turn aside the altars that are in Jerusalem, and all the perfume altars they have turned aside, and cast them to the brook Kidron;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And they rose up and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem; and they took away all the incense-altars, and cast them into the torrent Kidron.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and took away all things in which incense was burnt to idols and cast them into the torrent Cedron.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y levantándose, quitaron los altares que había en Jerusalem; quitaron también todos los altares de perfumes, y echáronlos en el torrente de Cedrón.
E levantando-se, tiraram os altares que havia em Jerusalém; tiraram também todos os altares de incenso, e lançaram-nos no ribeiro de Cedrom.
Ils se levèrent, et ils firent disparaître les autels sur lesquels on sacrifiait dans Jérusalem et tous ceux sur lesquels on offrait des parfums, et ils les jetèrent dans le torrent de Cédron.
Und sie machten sich auf und taten ab die Altäre, die zu Jerusalem waren, und alle Räuchwerke taten sie weg und warfen sie in den Bach Kidron;
En zij maakten zich op, en namen de altaren weg, die te Jeruzalem waren; daartoe namen zij alle rooktuig weg, hetwelk zij in de beek Kidron wierpen.
Si levarono e tolsero via gli altari sui quali si offrivan sacrifizi a Gerusalemme, tolsero via tutti gli altari sui quali si offrivan profumi, e li gettarono nel torrente Kidron.
Tedy powstawszy znieśli ołtarze, które były w Jeruzalemie, wszystkie też ołtarze, na których kadzono, porozwalali, a wrzucili do potoku Cedron.
И встали и ниспровергли жертвенники, которые были в Иерусалиме; и всё, на чем совершаемо было курение [идолам], разрушили и бросили в поток Кедрон;
他們起來， 把 耶路撒冷 的 祭壇 和 燒香 的壇盡都 除去，拋 在汲淪 溪中。
And they got to work and took away all the altars in Jerusalem, and they put all the vessels for burning perfumes into the stream Kidron.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · II Chronicles 30:14
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse describes a deliberate act of purification before the Passover celebration. The people “arose and took away the altars”, altars and incense altars that had stood in Jerusalem since the reign of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:24). Barnes notes that Hezekiah had been “more anxious to construct than to destroy,” focusing first on restoring temple worship; only now, with the city gathered for Passover, could the secondary work of removal proceed. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown emphasize that this was “a necessary preparation for the right observance of the approaching solemnity,” and Matthew Henry calls it “good preparation”, casting out the old leaven before the feast. Keil and Delitzsch point out that the removal happened “before the slaying of the passover, in order to purify and sanctify the city.” The Kidron Valley served as the dumping ground, a place associated with discarding what was unclean (see 2 Chronicles 29:16, 15:16). The act was communal and voluntary, not merely a royal decree. The people themselves arose and did it. That detail, say the commentators, signals that God’s hand had given them “one heart” (v. 12).
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The people removed idolatrous altars and incense altars from Jerusalem and cast them into the Kidron Valley as a concrete act of purification before the Passover celebration.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Why were the altars not removed earlier? | The altars had stood since Ahaz’s reign and needed to be removed before proper worship could resume. | Barnes holds that Hezekiah was more focused on rebuilding temple worship than on tearing down idolatry; Keil sees the delay as a matter of the people’s readiness, noting that purification had to be voluntary. |
| What were the ‘incense altars’? | They were structures for burning incense, distinct from the larger altars for burnt offerings. | Keil argues they were ‘places for incense-offerings’ (substantive use of the participle), while the Cambridge Bible notes the alternative reading ‘vessels for incense’ (marginal reading in RV). |
| The people’s role vs. the king’s role | The removal was a communal act; the people themselves took the initiative. | Matthew Henry and JFB emphasize the voluntary, Spirit-led action of the people, while some commentators note that Hezekiah’s earlier reforms had prepared the way, and this was the final step. |
Historical & Cultural Context
To understand this verse, we need the backstory. Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, had shut the doors of the temple, cut apart the sacred vessels, and “made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 28:24). Some of those altars were for burnt offerings, others for burning incense, likely to foreign gods, as the Targum cited by Gill specifies. Hezekiah’s reform began with reopening and cleansing the temple in his first year (2 Chronicles 29:3, 36). But the city itself still bore the marks of his father’s apostasy. Now, with a great assembly gathered for Passover (v. 13), the people took the initiative to finish what Hezekiah had started.
The choice of the Kidron Valley is significant. This valley east of Jerusalem constantly appears in reform narratives as the place where defiling objects were taken and destroyed. Asa burned his mother’s Asherah image there (2 Chronicles 15:16). During Hezekiah’s earlier temple cleansing, the priests carried “all the uncleanness” out to the Kidron (2 Chronicles 29:16). Later, Josiah would beat down altars and cast their dust into the same brook (2 Kings 23:12). Kidron was Jerusalem’s dump, a place of no return. Throwing the altars there meant they were gone for good.
The timing matters too. The Passover was normally kept in the first month, but the priests had not sanctified themselves in time (2 Chronicles 30:2, 3). So the feast was postponed to the second month, allowed by Numbers 9:10, 11 for those who were unclean or on a journey. This gave the people a window to prepare. They used it to purge the city of idolatry before they ate the lamb.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. The alternative reading “vessels for incense” (instead of “altars for incense”) appears in some marginal notes of the Revised Version, but the majority of manuscripts support the reading “incense altars.”
Reception History
Throughout church history, this verse has been read as a model for repentance and preparation before worship. Early Christian writers compared the destruction of idolatrous altars to the believer’s need to put away sin before receiving the Eucharist. During the Reformation, commentators like Matthew Henry stressed that outward cleansing must accompany inward devotion. In Anglican and Reformed traditions, the Kidron Valley took on symbolic weight as the place where defilement is permanently discarded, a picture of the decisive break with sin that genuine faith requires. More recently, the passage has been used to teach the importance of corporate repentance: the whole community acts together to remove obstacles to worship.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Idols must go before worship can begin. The altars of Ahaz had stood for years. But when the people gathered for Passover, they could not leave them in place. Removing them was the first step. True worship cannot coexist with rival objects of devotion.
- Purification is a communal act. The verse uses plural verbs throughout: “They arose … they took away … they threw.” This was not just the king’s business. The whole assembly owned the work. When God gives a community one heart (v. 12), the people act together to clean house.
- What is thrown into the Kidron does not come back. The valley was a place of final disposal. There is no retrieval from the wadi. This pictures repentance as a decisive, irreversible turning away from sin, not a temporary cleanup but a permanent disposal.
Five-point outline
- The historical trigger: Ahaz’s altars had polluted Jerusalem for years (2 Chronicles 28:24).
- The timing: Before the Passover meal, first clean, then celebrate.
- The scope: Not one altar but “all the altars”, every competing place of sacrifice.
- The method: Physical removal and total disposal in the Kidron Valley.
- The heart: Spontaneous, eager obedience flowing from God’s unifying work (v. 12).
Illustration hooks
- Spring cleaning before a big family meal. You cannot set the table while last year’s clutter covers every surface.
- A couple clearing out a house inherited from a hoarder. The new owners must remove the old before they can live fully in the space.
- A computer user deleting junk files and unused programs before installing new software. The old takes up space and slows down the system.
Questions your congregation is asking
- What are the “altars in every corner” in my life, habits, priorities, attachments that rival God?
- Why is physical removal important? Can’t I just repent in my heart without changing my surroundings?
- How do I know if I’ve really thrown something into the Kidron, or just moved it to a different closet?
Leading a Discussion
This passage shows a whole community preparing for worship by removing what stood between them and God. It raises questions we all face: What do I need to get rid of before I can truly celebrate what God has done?
Discussion questions
- Read 2 Chronicles 30:14. What did the people remove, and where did they put it?
- Look at 2 Chronicles 28:24. What had Ahaz set up, and why had those altars stayed in Jerusalem for years?
- Why do you think the people did this work themselves, rather than leaving it to the priests or the king?
- The Kidron Valley was used multiple times as a place to discard idolatrous objects. What does this say about how thoroughly the people meant to get rid of these altars?
- What “altars” or “incense altars”, habits, possessions, relationships, might need to be removed before you can fully enter into worship?
- This act happened before Passover. How does preparing physically or ritually help prepare the heart?
- Is there a time when you had to let go of something good in order to pursue something better with God?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| II Samuel 15:23 | All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness. |
| II Kings 18:22 | But if you tell me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ isn’t that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? |
| II Kings 23:12 | The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of Yahweh’s house, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron. |
| II Kings 23:13 | The king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon. |
| II Chronicles 15:16 | Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; so Asa cut down her image, ground it into dust, and burned it at the brook Kidron. |
| II Chronicles 28:24 | Ahaz gathered together the vessels of God’s house, cut the vessels of God’s house in pieces, and shut up the doors of Yahweh’s house; and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. |
| II Chronicles 29:16 | The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron. |
| II Chronicles 34:4 | They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and he cut down the incense altars that were on high above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the engraved images, and the molten images in pieces, made dust of them, and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
6 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that Hezekiah initially focused on restoring temple worship rather than tearing down idolatrous altars. Only after the daily service was reestablished and the temple reopened did he turn to removing those remaining traces of apostasy, treating that as a secondary but necessary task.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible notes that the phrase "altars for incense" in the main text is rendered as "vessels for incense" in the Revised Version margin. This points to a textual variation where the Hebrew word may refer to incense containers rather than small altars.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note observes that the people did not stop at the main altars but removed even the smaller incense altars, showing a thorough cleansing. Casting them into the Kidron brook, a place for refuse, underscored their complete rejection of idolatry.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to two distinct types of altars the Levites removed: those for animal sacrifices, which Ahaz had scattered throughout Jerusalem, and those for burning incense, which the Targum clarifies were offered to idols rather than the Lord. Both were reduced to dust and cast into the Kidron brook.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB sees the removal of Ahaz's altars as essential preparation for the proper observance of the Passover. He highlights that the people voluntarily undertook this purging of idolatry, calling it a happy sign and pledge that the Spirit was genuinely at work in their hearts.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that before the people could celebrate the Passover properly, they first had to tear down all the idolatrous altars in Jerusalem. For him, this physical cleansing pictures the spiritual preparation needed for the gospel: casting out sin before coming to the feast. He also notes Hezekiah's prayer that God would pardon those whose hearts were sincere even when their ceremonial cleansing fell short.